A Crazy Summer
by Lady Damyria
Summary: Things are getting pretty steamy in Frell! Next Chapter is up, sorry for the delay...
1. Prelude

Prelude  
  
"Diana!"  
I turned as I heard my name called. My mother, Lady Areida of the Sapphire Lake, stood at the door giving me an annoyed look. She shook her head as she walked towards me, her black curls, the same shade as mine, swinging behind her.  
"Your father and I have been looking for you." She said.  
"What do you want me for?" I asked, somewhat annoyed that she had interrupted my intense study of the courtyard below and its occupants.  
"We want to send you to Kyrria for the summer." She said, sitting down on my bed and motioning for me to sit beside her. "Queen Ella would be pleased to have you at court this summer."  
I sighed. Mother always thought that Ella's daughter, Cynthia, and I would be best friends like my mother and Ella were. We never got along. She was a perfect lady while I was rebellious to etiquette, preferring britches to skirts. She liked adventure but to only a certain extent. I always ended up in trouble. I loved riding and archery while she liked to sit in a garden and sip tea. We were opposites.  
"Why can't I just stay here this summer?" I asked.  
"You need to learn what it is like at court." She said. "I want you to be happy, but you need to know etiquette so that you don't make a fool out of yourself at a dinner."  
"That's all I'm good at, mother." I said, sarcastically. "If you send me, you're going to have to send Bran, because I'm not going into that lion's den alone." Bran was my twin brother and my best friend.  
"He's going too." She informed me. "Both of you are fifteen now, and are ready to be courted and maybe married in the next few years."  
"I'm not getting married." I said stubbornly. Never in my life would I get married. To me marriage seemed like a way to become rich. I had seen it happen too many times before. One of my good friends was the product of such a marriage. There was no love in her life. Besides, getting married meant having kids, and I can't stand kids.  
"Then you need to have this experience if you want to become a merchant or diplomat." She retorted.  
"Fine, I'll go, but only if I don't have to attend that boring Princess Cynthia." I said, giving in.  
"You're not going to be an attendant this summer, but a guest at court."  
"Good." I said, standing up to look out of my window and into the courtyard again.  
"Be ready to leave in the morning." She said as she swept out of my room. 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
"Quit looking at me like you want to kill me." My twin said to me. Bran, my annoying twin brother and best friend was sitting across from me in the carriage. He slumped in his seat and crossed his arms, returning my glare.  
"Don't mention Cynthia to me again or I will do more than glare at you." I retorted. Somehow during our conversation, he had mentioned Queen Ella's daughter, my sworn enemy. That started our glaring match.  
"Maybe if you tried to be friends with her, things would get better." Bran said, obviously ignoring my warning.  
"I did try, for most of my life." I said.  
"Maybe if you tried harder..." Bran said, his voice trailing off. He got a far away look that he usually got when he was in deep thought.  
"Did you ever consider the possibility that I don't want to be friends with Cynthia?" I asked, my sudden question breaking Bran's reverie.  
"Diana, both Ella and mother are pushing for a lasting friendship between our families." He said, breaking down my defense. Mother had always wanted our families and countries united by the friendship they had shared. They wanted both me and Cynthia to keep that treaty. That for me was impossible.  
Just as Bran opened his mouth to break my defenses some more, a horse galloped up along side us. The rider was cloaked in a heavy black cloak and yelled to our driver to stop the carriage. The driver stopped and both Bran and I jumped from the carriage. I had drawn the sword that I kept at my side during long journeys like this because one could never know when a band of robbers or ogres would come jumping out of the woods.  
The rider dismounted and drew off his hood. Instead of a man's short cropped hair, I saw the long chestnut hair of a girl. Green eyes, too much like Queen Ella's stared back at me. This was no ordinary messenger, this was Princess Cynthia of Frell, my worst enemy. 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 3  
  
"What are you doing here, Cynthia?" I hissed at the perfect girl. Even though she had been riding quite hard, she was as perfect as ever, not a hair on her head out of place.  
"I came to greet you." She said, batting her eyes at my brother. Cynthia had been in love with my brother since last summer, when she had turned thirteen. Bran and I were both fourteen and had ignored the signs.  
"We aren't even twenty miles close to Frell." Bran pointed out. Obviously he ignored the signs she was giving him.  
"Besides," I added, "Why would perfect Cynthia want to come out and greet us? We are just humble Ayorthaians." I said with a mock bow.  
"My mother sent me to see to your comfort." Cynthia said. Then she placed the back of her hand to her forehead as if she was going to faint. "My, was that ride long. Bran, would you mind escorting me into the carriage?" She asked, holding out her hand to my brother.  
I was seething mad. No one ordered my brother around but me. I stepped between Cynthia and Bran and helped her into the carriage. Satisfied that she would be alright, I hopped onto her tired horse and urged him into a slow walk. Bran jumped inside the carriage and closed the door behind him.  
I signaled to the driver to go and we started off again, with one more passenger.  
In a sense, I did get revenge on my twin. Bran, as I would later learn, suffered the entire way to Frell. Cynthia had kept throwing herself at him and trying to get his attention. Good thing for him, he was a little dense and had no interest in girls, especially the really girly type.  
I rode the rest of the way to Frell. That was fine for me because I preferred riding a horse than being stuck in the carriage with Cynthia. The horse I rode had a lot of bad habits, probably from having such an inexperienced rider as its owner. This was Dove, Cynthia's mare. She had good breeding, from the way she carried herself, but the way she jumped from a walk to gallop whenever I moved showed how bad a rider Cynthia actually was.  
It was night fall before we finally reached the gates of Frell. Dove was lagging from the amount of work she had done that day. I pitied her for having such a bad rider. We had also done some work trying to break her bad habits. All that work would come undone when Cynthia rode her again.  
Queen Ella and King Charmont were in the courtyard to greet us. Ella stood there, looking as beautiful as ever, even though she had been a queen for twenty years. Her green eyes danced as she recognized me on Dove. I hadn't changed much in the last year, except that I was taller and had acquired a front. Now I stood at almost equal height with my just under six- foot brother. I was only an inch or two shorter than he was.  
King Charmont, or Char as he preferred to be called, also stood there with his wife. He was like a father to me when I was here. That was mostly because my father never came with us on account of ruling his own earldom. Compared to my father, King Char was almost always willing to talk. He was always there too, unlike my father who was always traveling to the capital or inspecting his land.  
Sometimes I wondered how such nice people could have such a snobby daughter. From the stories Mother and Ella had told me about their childhood, Cynthia seemed more like Ella's stepsister Hattie. Maybe Ella's father's greed and snobbishness had been passed onto her, skipping Ella.  
A shadow moved in the corner of my eye. I thought nothing of it as I dismounted form Dove. I gave the mare a pat on her nose and a few words of praise for the good job she had done that day. From the way she reacted, the mare must not get praise that often. Then I handed her off to one of the grooms standing nearby.  
There was only one thing missing from the scene before me. I puzzled over it for a moment before I realized what was missing. Orion, Cynthia's older and much nicer brother wasn't here. He had been seventeen last year, which would make him eighteen this year.  
I walked forward towards Ella and Char, disappointed that Orion wasn't there. He, Bran, and I had been real close whenever we had come to visit. We had always been the source of all the pranks and trouble in the palace. We had done everything from soaping the banisters, which Ella and Char loved to slide on, to dumping buckets of soapy water on the passerby. A lot of the things we did involved soap, mostly because we loved to see what happened when a person went slipping and sliding.  
I was welcomed warmly by both Ella and Char. I was almost six inches taller than Ella now, and could look Char right in the eye. They both laughed at my new height and I joined them. They could always find a way to make one feel comfortable in an awkward situation.  
We talked for a while, and soon the carriage pulled into the courtyard. I had passed it quite a ways back and had gotten there a while before my brother and Cynthia. Char and Ella greeted their daughter and my brother with the same warmth they had shown me. I stood back and watched the whole exchange.  
As I watched, I didn't notice a form come up behind me. Two large arms wrapped around my waist. My arms were pinned to my sides so I couldn't move. Then I did something I had never thought my self capable of doing.  
I screamed. 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 4  
  
I was sure that was the stupidest thing I had ever done.  
"Be quiet!" A familiar voice hissed in my ear. Then I realized who my captor was.  
"Orion?" I asked.  
"It's me." He said and let me go. I was thankful that Cynthia and my brother were so engrossed in a conversation with Ella and Char that they hadn't heard me scream. If Bran had heard my scream, I would never live it down.  
"You wanted to have the first prank of the summer didn't you?" I asked Orion as he stood beside me, looking at his family.  
"Why else would I do that?" He asked me. I turned my head to get the first glimpse of my friend and came face to face with a broad shoulder. I had to look up to see my friend's face. Orion stared down at me now when we used to be the same height. Green eyes just like his mother's met mine in a mesmerizing gaze. Dark Brown hair was as messy as ever, but was lightened by the sun.  
"Quit looking at me like that." He said in annoyed tone.  
"How am I looking at you?" I asked, seeing nothing wrong with how I was looking at him.  
"Like my sister when she sees an ogre."  
I laughed at that. His sense of humor hadn't changed one bit, which I was glad. His easy going personality drew people to him, unlike his sister who used looks and batting eyes to get people's attention. With him around, I never had to worry about his sister.  
"I am not," I said between giggles.  
"Maybe not that bad, but maybe like the way your brother is staring at my sister?" Orion said, directing my attention to my twin. My giggles died when I saw My twin.  
Bran had the puppy dog look he got whenever he saw a pretty girl. That happened a lot when we were at home and wandering around the town where we lived. Bran would be looking at me one second and be staring off at a girl the next. That I could forgive, but giving Cynthia that look was another matter. I was going to kill Bran.  
"Do you want me to hold him while you kill him, or would you prefer to do it on your own?" My friend asked, seeing the shadow that came over my face. Sometimes he could read me better than my own brother.  
I turned to Orion and gave him an evil look, one that he had seen quite often.  
"I have an idea for a prank," I said, motioning for Orion to lower his head so I could whisper the plan to him.   
"Shhh!" I hissed. Orion had bumped into something.  
"You try carrying two full buckets of water in the dark." He hissed back.  
"I am, and I'm doing better than you are." I pointed out. It was past midnight and we were wandering through the secret passages that lead us from the well to just over the room where which Bran was staying. We had discovered these passages about three years ago and we had used them ever since.  
I stopped when I felt the iron ring to the trap door above bran's bed. I set down the two buckets I carried and lifted the trap door. Below I could see my twin brother. He was sleeping soundly like he usually did, oblivious to the world.  
Silently I tied the rope I carried over my shoulder around my waist and handed the other end to Orion. He would lower me down so I could tie a rope around my brother's foot. Orion lowered me down carefully, not wanting to wake my brother. If we made enough noise to wake the dead, my brother would still be asleep.  
It was about fifteen feet to the ground and I was there soon. I pulled the covers from the bottom of the bed to expose my brother's right foot. Quickly I tied the rope around it and tugged it tight. Then I motioned for Orion to bring me back up again. That part done, we only had to rig the buckets to fall when my brother woke up and started for the door. That was done quickly and we were out of there in a few minutes.  
The next morning, a sopping wet Bran came to the breakfast table. Neither Orion or I could keep out laughter in check. 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 5  
  
We spent the first couple of weeks playing tricks on my brother and his now sweetheart, Cynthia. Gradually, Bran and Cynthia joined in, partly because Bran was too smitten with Cynthia to notice that we were behind the pranks. Cynthia joined in only because Orion and I left a little surprise in her bath water.  
Being out in the halls became dangerous because one would never know when a bucket of water would come from the nearest window. Soon a full out war was being fought between siblings. The servants in the castle were soon divided. Mandy and the kitchen crew were on our side because Mandy said, "girl (Cynthia) needs to be put in her place." Loyalties were constantly changing, especially with the knights and squires.  
Ella and Char decided that they should keep out of this war because neither could choose who was right. To them we were a source of summer entertainment. That only lasted for the first week, only because Mandy lassoed Ella into joining our side to "teach the princess a lesson" as she worded it. It was more like inflicting torture on little miss bossy.  
That left Char on the outside. Poor man was torn between his loyalty to his wife and son, and his daughter. Eventually, Ella knocked some sense into him, only after hitting him on the head with a large frying pan. He had a major headache the next day, but he soon saw the better of being on his son's side. He even got involved with the pranks themselves!  
After a month of the war, both sides had not come to a winner. Finally, Orion and I decided to take things into our own hands. It took another week of planning, but finally it was ready. We only needed two things to ensure our success, my brother and Cynthia.  
The night before our plan was supposed to be played into action; both Orion and I were up late in Char's study. A map of the castle was spread out on the table before us and we were finishing the last details of our plan. Both of us were in deep concentration when Orion asked:  
"What are we going to do to your brother after we catch him?"  
I looked at him with a shocked expression. "What do you mean?"  
"Are we going to string him up, have him tarred and feathered, torture him?"  
"I didn't think about that." I said, looking up at my friend. I really hadn't. Maybe it was because I was so caught up in the moment that I hadn't thought about what came after we finished the war. "How do you punish someone for falling in love with a snob?"  
"If anything, this only makes things worse." Orion paused for a moment, trying to think. "This will make him think that he's such a great man because he survived the worst for her. If only we can bring the worst out of her..."  
"Tried that." I said. "If Bran can keep fighting this war and not surrender after enduring all of Cynthia's bad moods, they are definitely in love."  
"That would not be good at all." Orion said.  
"I have a better idea." I said, casting our best plan ever aside. 


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry I didn't get this next chapter up sooner, but I was on a trip and had to get ready to go back to school. Then I was having trouble getting my internet back up, so yeah, you get the picture… Sorry.

Chapter 6

Well, knowing that I couldn't get to my brother through any more tricks, Orion and I decided to not bother with any new tricks for the time being. But the war went on any way.

Queen Ella and King Char were into this so deep that they pulled prank after prank. Even those whom they were allied with had to worry about a bucket of soapy water or sometimes even something worse. One night, Orion came into the study for the planning of our last prank with the remnants of a lemon meringue pie on his clothes and face. I couldn't help but laugh because this prank had been performed right under my nose.

The pranks from my brother were beginning to slow down a little, but only a little. When we had been attacked each day, we were now getting a minor prank every other day or maybe a larger one every few days. But still, we were getting hit, though not that hard.

Knowing that something was afoot, I told everyone to be overly cautious because I had seen this tactic before. My brother would make like he was going to surrender, then hit me with a prank worse than any others he had done before. But then, I didn't think about how far he would go.

Things were also happening between Orion and me. We were getting closer, closer than we had been in past summers. I was finding that the separation from my brother and best friend was grating on me and began to open up to Orion. Most nights, instead of planning, we would spend the time talking and sharing things about ourselves.

One night after a really long conversation with Orion, he walked me to the door and was about to let me out when he kissed me. Not on the cheek like a brotherly or friendly kiss, but on the mouth. That really freaked me out and my legs just gave out from beneath me.

"W-what was that for?" I stuttered from my spot on the floor, in front of the door.

Orion sat down next to me and leaned against the door.

"Maybe the same thing that happened to your brother," he said.

"You're in love with me!?" I asked, startled.

"Who couldn't?" he asked me, meeting my eyes. The firelight had made his green eyes glow in a way I had never seen them.

"Has getting hit with that pie finally gotten to you?" I asked, getting a little scared.

Orion smiled a cocky grin and grabbed my hands.

"I am perfectly fine, but if it was really that pie, hit me again," he said with a laugh. Growing serious, he said, "But I really think that you are the girl for me."

"And if your sister married my brother, I would be off limits because I would be family," I pointed out.

"Theirs is just a fickle love," he said rolling his eyes.

"Speaking about love," I said changing the subject, "when will your friend be here with his sister?"

"Their already here so we can pull it off tomorrow night."

"Good."

I rose and opened the door a crack before leaving to check the halls for an intruder. Turning around, I found Orion behind me. He kissed me again, leaving my head reeling. Then, he opened the door and let me out.

I began the walk to the room I had been assigned to when I had arrived. My heart was beating so fast and my mind was spinning in circles. Could it be that I was falling for my friend as he had for me?

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I forgot to be on my guard. I never even saw the shadow that passed over mine or the hands that grabbed my arms. But I did see the sack coming over my head and screamed.


End file.
